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Volume 2.8 Table Of Contents
- Find your “starting point” when making plans for 2006
- Trend Watch: Corporate reputation becoming a key factor in growth
- Digging Deeper: For everything….there is a time
- Ask the Business Performance Expert:
Find your “starting point” when making plans for 2006
Whether it’s losing weight, taking up a new hobby or achieving some other objective, every year people make New Year’s resolutions only to see the effort stall out a few months later. When this happens, it’s usually because the person has made a commitment that’s inconsistent with his or her “starting point” in reality (the initial goals and actions that launch a plan). For example, it would be a setup for failure to expect to fluently speak a new language in six months if your personal reality is that you can’t - or won’t - make the time to study and practice every day. In this case your starting point would be to commit to making time on a daily basis to study and practice the language. When the starting point for your resolution is aligned with your current capability and willingness to do what it takes to succeed, you will achieve your objective.
This same dynamic holds holds true in the business world. Your company objectives for 2006 may include improving your corporate reputation [see Trend Watch below], growing through acquisition, increasing innovation, or reducing operating expenses. However, even the most brilliant strategies to accomplish these objectives can run into “gridlock” if the initial goals and actions to launch them are out of alignment with your organization’s current reality –its capability or willingness to execute the plan. To avoid this pitfall, ask three questions to assess the starting point for executing your plan.
Many leaders find it easiest to back into identifying their organization’s starting point for launching a plan. You do this by asking a series of questions about your goals, and probing to determine if your organization is currently capable and willing to accomplish them. These include:
- What are the fundamental goals we’ll have to complete to realize our strategy? The objective of this step is to create a roadmap between where the organization is right now and where you want it to go. These are the basic steps of strategic planning.
- Does our organization currently have the capability and the willingness to accomplish each of these goals? What evidence do you have to support your conclusion? Over the years, I’ve found that misplaced starting points can be traced to capability issues such as: missing infrastructure, insufficient capital, and a lack of critical competencies. Misplaced starting points can also come from willingness issues such as: unexpected resistance from employees, outsource providers, alliance partners, suppliers, customers and other key stakeholders for a variety of apparent and not-so-apparent reasons.
- What else has to happen before we can successfully complete this goal? This question is only necessary if you can’t answer “yes” to question #2. Once you can answer “yes,” to question #2, you’ve found your organization’s starting point. The other steps make up the goals and actions of your implementation plan. (see “Digging Deeper”)
Bottom line: Uncovering assumptions about your starting point for launching a plan is essential in order to determine whether the strategy you have identifed can actually achieve a return on investment within the timeframe you require, or whether another strategy would be more suitable for accomplishing your objective.
Trend Watch: Corporate reputation becoming a key factor in growth
If improving your company’s reputation is on your list of New Year’s resolutions, you’re not alone. As skepticism continues to grow among consumers, employees and investors, look for 2006 to be a year for more companies to address their reputations as a way to improve both top and bottom line growth.
While the 2005 Reputation Quotient by Harris Interactive and The Reputation Institute of New York listed only the most visible companies in America (for a complete list visit (http://www.harrisinteractive.com/expertise/reputation.asp#rq2005), the reality is that every company, regardless of size, has a reputation that impacts the behavior of its current and potential customers, employees, the community, investors, and other stakeholders. Rather than making assumptions, uncover the reputation that your company really has with each of these groups.
Remember that just as with every other strategic initiative, improving your company’s reputation requires that you find the appropriate starting point for your organization to begin making changes.
To discuss how you can accelerate progress toward your company’s key objectives for 2006 call Pam Harper toll free at (877) 612-1228, or contact us.
Digging Deeper: For everything….there is a time
Because different goals and actions require different amounts of time, resources, competencies and skills to accomplish them, some steps can take longer to accomplish than others. You may be tempted to sequence steps of your plan based upon convenience and opportunity rather than on your organization’s capability. However, this can have unintended consequences if the sequence puts the “cart before the horse.”
For instance, one company that was upgrading its computer system decided to send employees to outside training on how to use the new system before they took delivery on the equipment. Why? Because it worked out better for the department’s scheduling. Unfortunately, by the time the equipment arrived two months later, many people had forgotten what they had learned. In addition to creating stress and frustration, it diverted people from other tasks that were a higher priority.
Whether you’re planning how to integrate an acquisition, cement an alliance, or launch a quality initiative, testing your assumptions about the order of goals and action steps can help keep your company on track down the road of executing your plan.
Looking for fresh perspectives
at your next leadership meeting or retreat?
Pam Harper provides high- energy keynotes that
provide participants with new insights and practical
ideas for accelerating progress toward key business
objectives. For more information call toll free
(877) 612-1228 or contact
us.
Ask the Business Performance Expert:
Q: What is
the risk of launching a plan with an inappropriate
starting point?
A: The risk is that your best-laid
plans go bad. This is because the first goals
and action steps you select for a plan set the
tone for everything else that happens down the
road. I’ve even seen benchmarked strategies
that worked beautifully in one organization run
into gridlock when launched from an inappropriate
starting point. While it is definitely possible
to break out of gridlock and regain momentum,
I believe that it’s faster, less costly,
and most effective to prevent gridlock from happening
in the first place.
Quote: "To change and to change for the better are two different things."
---- German Proverb --